S'pore President Confers Top Award To Malaysian Armed Forces Chief

BY: TENGKU NOOR SHAMSIAH ABDULLAH SINGAPORE, Aug 14 (Bernama) -- Malaysian Armed Forces (MAF) Chief, General (Dr) Zulkifeli Mohd Zin was conferred Singapore's highest military award, the Distinguished Service Order (Military), by President Tony Tan Keng Yam at the Istana Wednesday afternoon. Guests at the investiture included Minister for Defence Dr Ng Eng Hen, Minister of State for Defence Dr Mohamad Maliki Osman, Permanent Secretary for Defence Chan Yeng Kit, Chief of Defence Force Lieutenant-General Ng Chee Meng, as well as senior government officials and military officers from Malaysia and Singapore, the Ministry of Defence said in a statement. Zulkifeli received the award for his significant contributions in strengthening the relationship between the MAF and the Singapore Armed Forces as MAF Chief since June 2011. Under his leadership, interactions between both armed forces have expanded in both scope and depth. The two armed forces interact regularly through bilateral activities such as Exercise Semangat Bersatu and Exercise Malapura, which celebrated their 20th and 30th anniversary respectively this year. Both armed forces also work closely together at the multilateral level under the ambit of the Five Power Defence Arrangements, the Malacca Strait Patrols and the ASEAN Defence Ministers' Meeting and the Asean Defence Ministers' Meeting-Plus framework. These interactions and cooperation have fostered mutual understanding and camaraderie among the officers and men of both armed forces, as well as contributed to regional peace and stability. Zulkifeli, who is in Singapore for two days from Tuesday, called on Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong at the Istana Tuesday, and Dr Ng and Lt Gen Ng at the Ministry of Defence before the investiture. During the calls, both sides reaffirmed the strong bilateral defence ties and expressed commitment to deepen the bilateral defence relationship through more interactions at all levels. -- BERNAMA